Aliya and Najib were deported to Somalia on Tuesday evening, hours after telling SVT that the stop law promised by Sweden's red-green parties had not arrived in time. Both are 22 years old.
The siblings received temporary residence permits at 17 as relatives of their mother, who has refugee status. Unlike their younger siblings, they are no longer considered part of their mother's nuclear family and have no right to stay in Sweden, as Aftonbladet previously reported.
"I'm very disappointed. They say on social media that they want to stop them, that they want to pause. But in reality it isn't paused. Why doesn't it apply to us? Aliya said before boarding the plane. Najib said: "On the news it says they've stopped the teenage deportations, but we're leaving tonight."
Aliya described the life she left behind. "I studied the economics programme, I graduated. I worked as a nursing assistant before I got the deportation decision. To be deported from this country that you call your country, your home, it hurts very much."
Several red-green parties promised during the election campaign to stop the so-called teenage deportations and to go further than the Tidö parties. Deadlock in the government formation has so far prevented them from fulfilling those pledges. While waiting for a new government, the red-green parties in the Riksdag's social insurance committee are working to draft a so-called stop law.
"It would have been easier to have a red-green government that could push this issue," said Jennifer Merelaid Hankins (V), migration policy spokesperson. Asked whether ministerial posts matter more to the Left Party than stopping the deportations, she said: "Stopping the deportations is a priority. That's why it was the first political issue we took on."